Another nail in the coffin of 'child'. Children got kissed on the forehead. Still, it sent butterflies to his gut and he felt a shiver at his spine. Aesir blinked slowly, looking down at their hands as he was tugged along and blew out a careful breath. Fluttery things. The short trip had Aesir watching Kirkley carefully. Taking in his large frame. How gently his hand was held. How warm it was.

It was awful. Just looking at the guy made his mouth go dry and here he was treating him like something precious and wanted. It was hard to keep himself calm. Somewhere unfamiliar still. Somewhere strange. With someone strange that he already felt so connected to. Aesir was alarmed to a few degrees how much he already felt. Too busy dwelling on such things he yelped.

"Wha--!" Aesir kicked out a leg in surprise, eyes wide before he flushed brightly. Picked up so easily like he weighed nothing. With a 'hup' he was plopped down onto the counter and just stared for a moment in surprise, eyes wide. His hands went to the edge and he ducked his head after a moment in an effort to will away his blush. "I..." Aesir opened his mouth, taking a moment to lick his lips and then purse them frowning.

"I can make an omelette," He said sheepishly, shivering and mouth dropping and quickly snapping shut. Sure it was a brief brush against his thigh but... Aesir flicked his eyes to Kirkley and shivering again. "and... Simple stuff. I'm a fast learner," Or at least he thought he was. Now he was kind of confused. Aesir also wanted to go back to his bunk. Embarrassing what a little accidental thigh action did to him. He leaned over, still seated on the counter. "Never made pancakes before," he chewed on his lip and watched, disliking and enjoying how much being around Kirkley made his insides flutter.

The responses Aesir gave him were nothing short of precious. Kirkley couldn't help the feeling of his heart clenching as he watched the young man shiver and blush, trying to hide it so cutely. He felt the distinct and sudden urge to say fuck the pancakes and just cover the Aedolian with kisses, but he reigned it in with a sharp intake of breath as he went about mixing the batter.

"Omelettes, huh? Color me surprised." He teased lightly as he added the eggs, milk and butter to the powder mix he'd thrown together. He was guestimating most of it, he rarely ever used precise measurements when he was cooking.

"That's good though. I wasn't sure just how spoiled you might be, growing up in Aedolis and all that." He said it with a smile, looking up from the kitchen work over at the teen, that smile growing warmer as his eyes settled on Aesir's form.

For a brief moment, perhaps it was the way the light hit him, but for a brief moment he looked just like Bifrost. Kirkley's heart clenched again, but this time it hurt. He pursed his lips and looked back to what he was doing as he poured the batter onto the pan on the stove.

"So, are you excited to get out and do some exploring soon?" He asked with a small smile, setting the mixing bowl down as he waited for the first two pancakes to harden up, grabbing a plate from a cupboard while he waited. "And how many do you want?"

"I'm not spoiled!" Aesir practically barked out, eyebrows shooting up in surprise. It wasn't intentional but the pout pulled at his lower lip and he glanced down and away, arms slowly crossing over his chest and turning to look around. Spoiled. A little frown and he ducked his head down and looked at Kirkley through his bangs. He liked it like this. He liked being seated on the counter like he weighed as much as a bag of feathers.

Aesir sucked in a breath while Kirkley made the pancakes.

How many did he want? Forever.

What? No. "two?" His voice squeaked at the end because he wasn't sure how many he wanted. Two was good. Seemed like a decent amount for food. "Exploring?" Aesir questioned, his voice going soft and curious, sucking his lower lip into his mouth to chew on it while he thought. "The Cancer Station?" Aesir ducked his head down, trying to imagine it, "How does all of this stuff work without the Dragons?" he finally questioned.

Not spoiled, he said. As he turned to cross his arms over his chest, huff and pout that lower lip in a way that was almost cartoonish. Not spoiled, he said.

Kirkley couldn't help but grin, glancing at the pancakes to make sure they'd be okay before he took a step closer to give him a playful hair tussle and a grin before, and he hesitated for a split second, before he he pressed a kiss to the teen's cheek and gave him a quick nuzzle before going back to fixing some decent food.

"Yeah, exploring the Cancer Station. It's hella dangerous though so I'd like it if you stayed by my side at all times, easier to protect you from the criminals that way, cuz there's a lot of em." He eyed the teen carefully for a moment before raising an eyebrow when he asked how everything worked without dragons.

"... What? What, you mean this?" He nodded to the ship around them, both eyebrows now climbing up on his forehead with amusement. "Through science," He chuckled, plopping two pancakes onto the plate he'd pulled earlier and starting the next two. "Electricity, engineering. People govern themselves out in open space, we don't need dragons to do it for us. And there are some dragons out here who have absolutely no interest in doing so, either."

He smiled, looking up at Aesir from the pancakes and pulling open one of the cabinet doors with his toes to reach down and pull up a bottle of syrup and set it on the counter, pulling out some forks from a drawer and setting those down as well.

"Ain, for example," He said carefully as he put two other pancakes onto the plate, and found he had enough batter for two more, thank gods, cause he was hungry. "Ain rules over many people. She's a warlord, owns her own territories, governs people, collects taxes, all that fun stuff. Though, don't mention any of that to anybody else now, y'hear? Not exactly the most legal things, depending on what territory you're in."

He smiled at Aesir, nodding at the pancakes. "You can go ahead and start eating if you want, use as much syrup as you like. Got butter, too." He paused, looking back to the last two pancakes on the pan and humming thoughtfully. "To be honest I prefer it out here, away from the dragons. So much more freedom." He smiled.

Why was his heart pounding so hard from a kiss on the cheek and a nuzzle? Aesir's breath caught in his throat and he tried to turn his face in time to catch some more nuzzle but... Kirkley was gone and he felt like he was missing something already. Fuck. Shit. Aesir closed his eyes and took a breath because that nuzzle alone just about did him in. He shifted awkwardly and placed his hands, palms up on his lap, tugging down his sweater and trying to resist. When Kirkley started to talk about electricity and engineering he'd practically forgotten what his previous question had been.

Right. Dragons.

Which brought about Ain.

Ain.

Aesir frowned for a moment, his poor lower lip being chewed on like it were bubblegum while he thought. The plate of pancakes sitting in his hands over his lap before he remembered who Ain was. The woman before they got on the ship. Gosh she was pretty. He gave a wistful sigh and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to imagine her again. That was a lady to have a crush on. She was... So beautiful.

At Kirkley's instruction, Aesir rolled one of the pancakes into a easily handled fluffy-cooked-batter tube and took a bite. Wrinkling his nose at the syrup and butter. He swallowed his mouthful and shook his head, "I don't really like sweet stuff," He said before polishing off the pancake and going for the second one that he just folded in half. He frowned at the idea of freedom while Kirkley spoke and made pancakes for himself. He licked his fingers slowly, popping them in and out of his mouth one by one before he looked to Kirkley.

"I don't like it out here," He stated simply, holding the empty plate on his lap. "I feel," He wrinkled his nose, "I dunno. Naked and exposed. There aren't any walls." He ducked his head down and closed his eyes, "I guess you'll have to show me what freedom from Dragons feels like."